The story contains elements of metafiction and magical realism, and deals with the clash of modernization with the traditional, primitive way of life.
The writer returns and digs out his story from his chest, which begins with a young shepherd girl living by herself in the remote mountains.
They hear the live broadcast of the 1984 Summer Olympics reverberating in the mountains, and the man dies believing he has found enlightenment.
Tashi Dawa was strongly influenced by Latin American writers like Gabriel García Márquez and Jorge Luis Borges, and magical realism figures prominently in his stories.
[3] Tashi Dawa and director Zhang Yang co-wrote the 2016 film Soul on a String, based on this story and "On the Road to Lhasa".